Kris B Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Are you planning some figures as you left the hatches opened? Nice biuld. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted November 28, 2017 Author Share Posted November 28, 2017 Thanks, Yep I am sorting out some figures.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_t Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Looks great so far! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsman Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Regarding nuts and bolts mentioned in a post above, cutting the Meng ones from their "sprue" and keeping them uniformly flat and even can be troublesome - especially towards the middle of the "sprue" where getting a blade under them can be awkward. I'm a long term fan of Grandt Line products, but have recently discovered a new UK brand that are even better. EDM Models, available from NG Trains at www.ngtrains.com. Same concept as Grandt Line: each head has a tail to insert into a drilled hole. Or the heads can be cut off the tails and surface-applied. The best range of Grandt Line since SB Models closed is available from the 7mm Narrow Gauge Society. Lion Roar do some excellent etched nut and bolt heads with no connections to the fret. You just peel back the plastic backing film and pick them off. They are slightly adhesive, but I think that's just transfer from the backing film. Most other brands of etched ones have fret tabs, requiring clean close cutting or fiddly clean-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted November 28, 2017 Share Posted November 28, 2017 Or you can get a hexagonal punch and die set and punch out as many as you want. Several different ones on the market. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted December 2, 2017 Author Share Posted December 2, 2017 Primer On.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted December 2, 2017 Author Share Posted December 2, 2017 (edited) So I have made a start on the figures. The kit come with 5 figures a commander and driver from the original M4A3 boxing these are on the sprue that contains the VVSS units. The other 3 are a nice commander in summer kit and a pair of drivers these are new to the M4 I decided to use one of the M4 drivers and the M4A3 driver.. guess which is which... The other figure is from the New Tamiya ETO tankers set which h came out around the same time as their Easy Eight kit. Ive used the loader figure from that and grafted on a pair of legs from the A3 commander so he fills the commanders hatch a bit more. Here is the composite of parts. and him fitted to the cupola. Which looks reasonably natural in pose... The sculpt on the newer figures is ok not resin crisp but fine for my simple needs. When the drivers are in Situ they are pretty much hidden so no major issues I think. Cheers Plasto Edited December 2, 2017 by Plasto 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 Nice work, it’s going to look the biz matey, the new generation of tamiya figures are 3G scanned and I the think the set you bought were the first. The crew figure from the easy 8 I think is also scanned. One suggestion is to replace the heads with the great range of resin heads from Hornet. They really do make the painting phase easier as the details are so crisp. I built the old legacy Tamiya Sherman a year or so ago and replace the heads, they really are great bits of kit. Dan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted December 2, 2017 Author Share Posted December 2, 2017 Hi Dan, Thanks for the advice and info. Yes I did think that I might give the ‘Hornet’ heads a try... The older figure would benifit the most I think. cheers Plasto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dads203 Posted December 2, 2017 Share Posted December 2, 2017 Here you chap , it might be of use, I used the stock figures but the Hornet heads transformed them into decent representations of the crew. Regards Dan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted December 2, 2017 Author Share Posted December 2, 2017 Thanks Dan, Nice build.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 Definitely echo what Dan said. The heads are the most prominent part of the figures, and Hornet Heads are the best. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_t Posted December 3, 2017 Share Posted December 3, 2017 I too can vouch for the Hornet heads, as recommended to me by John aka @Bullbasket. I used one of their 'older' heads for my M3 Grant commander, with my own personal addition of a moustache. Good work on the tank too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris B Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 So far so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted December 7, 2017 Author Share Posted December 7, 2017 Thanks for the comments and advice folks... I have hit the tank with some Olive Drab.... I added some highlights in white first ( so I guess I'm doing black n white technique) Here it is after the initial coat... Cheers Plasto 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted December 7, 2017 Share Posted December 7, 2017 Its looking pretty good to my eye’s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted February 7, 2019 Author Share Posted February 7, 2019 Hi Time to resurrect this post. In working on the Panzer IV builds for the GB I dug out this Sherman and have been making some progress over the last couple of days. So moving on I have given it a further coat of thinned brownish olive drab. Painted in the sand bags and washed these and dry brushed. Cut some stencils and masked and painted the markings then 'painted out't he turret stars. Painted the tracks.. added mud to the lower hull and added the tracks and muddied these up. It's also had a localised dry brush with some olive oil paint.. Thoughts? Cheers Plasto 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted February 7, 2019 Share Posted February 7, 2019 I wondered what had happened to this build. It's coming along fine. I like the sandbags. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plasto Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 I found some time in between Panzer IV stuff to modify the figures and add in some Hornet heads.. I chopped off the Plastic heads and opened up a cavity in the neck with the Dremel and a tapered grinding stone and trimmed the Hornet Head to fit. The heads are US WW2 Tankers unsurprisingly.. I need to fill here and there but they Look good to me.. Thoughts and feedback welcomed. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clive_t Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Looks great, Hornet heads are brilliantly detailed. Looking forward to seeing them painted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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